Tuesday, February 08, 2005

Why I Love Free Comic Book Day

Dude: Free Comics!

Really, anyone who complains about FCBD is just a whiny cry-baby. It may not be perfect, but it's better than nothing. And so what if you can't get all the free comics you want--if there wasn't a Free Comic Book Day, you wouldn't get those comics anyway, right?

What I like most about FCBD is that it promotes comics for reading, and not as artifacts to be sealed up in mylar or 'slabbed'.

But what I'd really like to see is for Diamond to make the free comics available to anyone willing to pay, not just comic shops. Viral marketing, dude! Let comic fans buy lots of FCBD comics and then distribute them in barber shops, movie theaters, bus terminals, libraries, supermarkets, high schools, etc.

Retailers: Talk to your major customers, and see if they'd be willing to help out in a viral marketing campaign.

Publishers: You can bypass Diamond and go directly to the people! Use your Website to offer lots of 10 or 25 or 100 (or whatever) of your FCBD offering to fans who want to help spread the word.

The goal here is to get people interested in comics. Let's not be half-assed about it--let's go nuts!